Press Trip: Oakwood Theme Park

Yesterday we had the pleasure of visiting Oakwood, the largest theme park in Wales. It was a beautiful sunny day and blue skies for as far as you could see.

As we live in Cardiff it was only about an hour and a half drive. Oakwood is set in the Pembrokeshire countryside and I couldn’t think of a more perfect setting for a theme park than in the countryside of Wales. Rolling green hills for miles around.

I have been to Oakwood before about 10 years ago and experienced the thrills and spills of the rollercoaster. Sadly my experience of one particular ride which is Speed, is not the best memory you could have wished for because as soon as I got off the ride I was promptly sick!

Our visit yesterday though was to be centred more around the rides that our seven year old twin girls could experience and I was pleasantly surprised at how many rides there were for the girls to enjoy. This all combined for them and us to experience the thrills of one of the best theme parks in the UK.

We left nice and early so we could be there for when the park opens and hopefully avoid the queues to go on the rides. Oakwood opens at 10am and at this time of year closes at 4.30pm. I will add it’s currently only open on weekends. Check out their website for all their opening times.

We were seen very quickly at the gates and jumped on the Mainline Train for the start of our family fun filled day.

Oakwood has some of the best rollercoasters to be found anywhere in the UK. A few of the bigger rides are listed below.

1. Speed

Speed is the fastest ride in the whole of Wales. It’s a beyond vertical drop rollercoaster and will plunge, loop, twist and turn whilst reaching speeds of up to 56 Mph. This is one for all the adrenaline junkies.

2. Megafobia

Megofobia has been voted the number one wooden rollercoaster in the UK. People travel from all over the world just to go on this thrill seeker.

3. Vertigo

Vertigo is the UK’s tallest sky swing and once you pull that release cord you will fly through the giant arch and straight back into the sky. Make note this is the only ride that is not included in your day pass and will cost £30 for a group of 3 three people per go.

4. Drenched

Finally of all the adrenaline fast paced rides is Drenched. This will take you 100 feet into the air and reach speeds of 56 Mph. It creates a massive tidal wave that will definitely soak your family and friends who are watching from the bridge. A definite thrill seeker ride.

Those rides are not for the faint hearted and are definitely for the adrenaline junkies, but we are here with our seven year old twin girls and Oakwood theme park offers a fantastic family day out for all ages and they have two attractions that are perfect for children from aged 2 onwards.

1. Neverland

You can explore Neverland and all the magical and wonderful things it has to offer. It is home to 7 child friendly rides and it also has a soft play centre.

Neverland is based all around the Peter Pan story and has lots of fantastic rides for the kids and adults to enjoy.

It first of all has a house which is the set up of Wendy’s house in London including the bedroom where Peter Pan visits to take them all to Neverland. It’s a very magical setting.

There is a London taxi ride which takes you around London to see the sights such as Big Ben and Marble Arch.

In total there are ten rides in Neverland. The girls, my wife and I went on them all more than once. Our favourite without a doubt was Skull Rock. This is a log flume ride and we got soaked! Did we care? Not a chance! It was hysterical and the girls thought it was so funny to get so wet!

Neverland is a must stop, especially if your children are the same age as our twins. Other rides there included Crocodile Coaster, Aerodrome and Tinks Flying school to name a few.

It was time for lunch and there are a number of places to eat, but we decided on Woody’s Burger Bar. It was excellent food and at a reasonable price. We had two chicken burger meals and two hot dog meals both with drinks which cost £7.95. Very good value and a good portion size.

The day was going really quickly so we made our way to Spooky Street. There is a rollercoaster in this part called The Creepy Crawler, but children do have to be 1.2m tall to ride it. Unfortunately one of our girls isn’t tall enoungh so our other twin went on with her mum.

There is also a ride called The Cauldrons which is similar to the teacups and the girls loved this ride and had numerous goes.

The fun does truly go on forever and now it was time for some of the family adventure rides and activities.

First up was Snake River Falls which is a raft down a very steep water slide. Expect to get wet because we certainly did! The girls were loving it and we must have had about fives goes on this one. Secretly I loved it because I do love a water slide!

We then went on the Bobsleigh which is a long slide and perfect for our girls. In fact they took control of the accelerator and brake while I sat back and enjoyed the view.

Next we went on the boating lake which had pedalo boats and the girls even had a go at peddling and steering.

Next up was the Pirate Ship. I am going to have to be honest. I really don’t like any rides that leave my stomach behind. We actually went on the pirate ship when it only does a half ride which means it doesn’t go too high and if I’m honest towards the end I thought I was going to be sick! Thankfully I wasn’t but my wife and daughters thought it was very funny, needless to say they loved the ride.

It was coming towards the end of the day and we decided it was time to go on TreeTops. This is a rollercoaster that goes through the woods. OMG! I was not looking forward to this, but I found my brave and went on it. It’s actually not that fast and amazingly we went on it 3 times by which time I was holding my hands in the air for the photo haha! Of course the girls and my wife loved it too.

OMG! My face is not that bad, thanks Darlin! That’s better you can see my face.

Our day at Oakwood Theme Park was nearly finished so we asked the girls what two rides they would like to go on again which we promptly did.

Our day had finished now so we finished our day the only way you could finish such a perfect day with an ice-cream and then we made our way to the souvenir shop so the girls could buy something as a memory of their day at Oakwood.

My final thoughts are that it’s a fantastic day out for all the family as it caters for all ages of children and adults. If you are looking to have some family fun and to create memories that will last a lifetime Oakwood is the place to go. It’s excellent value with so much to entertain the children. It definitely gets a five star rating from us as a family.